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Showing posts from July, 2022

Hoons, Huns, Pashtoon, and Abdalis - From Hinduism to Islam

Huns or Hoon Invasion of NW India The Huns or Huna (Middle Brahmi script: Hūṇā) was the name given by the ancient Indians to a group of Central Asian tribes who entered the Indian subcontinent during the 5th to early 6th century. In fact the Huns were not a homogeneous group and consisted to various distinct nomadic tribes that invaded Afghanstan and then India over a long period of times: Kidarite Huns Alchon Huns Nezak Huns Hephthalite Huns All of these groups arrived as pagan nomad raiders and then adopted the religion of the land. It was a tolerant society with poly-religious mixture of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Zaorastrian beliefs. They built Buddhist stupas, renovated Hindu temples, and released coins in the honor of Buddha, Shiva, his bull Nandi, mother goddess, Mithra - the Persian God, and Zaorastian fire altars. Pashtoon People of Afghanistan - Descendents of Huns They were conquered by the Arabs and Turks and forcibly or by choice converted to Islam. Overtime they became mor...

Indian Roots of Afghan People

Pakhtun Painting by Maryam Mughal - fineartamerica.com Afghanistan (meaning "Land of the Afghans") owes its name to the native people's association with Indian roots. It comes from the Sanskrit term " Asva-Gana " which literally means the people of horses. Let's look at the Indic roots of Afghan people with undeniable historic evidences from various parts of the country. I am only going to use the coins of rulers from Afghanistan as evidence and not go into details of the ruins of Hindu and Buddhist temples and Stupas from the region. Khalji The Khalaj are classified as a Turkic tribe from Afghanistan. The Khalaj were described as sheep-grazing nomads who had a habit of wandering through seasonal pastures. They are considered as the remnants of the Hephthalite confederation that invaded the region during the 5th century AD. Before their conversion to Islam, the Khalji practiced Hinduism , Zoroastrian ,  and Buddhism .  Conversion to Islam 11th-century boo...

The Crime of Shambooka

Srimad Valmiki Ramayana is an epic poem of India which narrates the story of its hero, Rama and his journey in life - aayana . This epic poem Ramayana is a smriti which is translated as "from memory", Devout Hindus worship Sri Rama as a God incarnate, He is our revered ancestor who is mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib , the Sikh scriptures, and Indian philosophers make him Maryada Purushottam , the "Perfect Man of Social Virtue", While at the same time, rationalists condemn the legacy of Rama on how women and people of lower caste were treated during his reign.  I came across this interesting story of Shambooka in Valmiki's Ramayana and I would like to share it with you with my dismay on how our ancestors treated fellow Indians belonging to the so called lower caste of the society. This story is described in Uttara-kanda , the last book of Valmiki Ramayana which depicts the period of his reign and demise by suicide. Death of a Brahmin Boy The story ...